To compete with big boxes—be blunt, be better

According to marketWise statistics in this year’s Statistical Report in FCW, floor covering specialty stores still sell the lion’s share of flooring, holding 46.3 percent of sales in 2012, but home centers have increased their market share from 14.3 percent in 2007 to 17.3 percent in 2012. Specialty stores aren’t willing to let that trend continue.

Home centers have become known for enticing consumers with free or very inexpensive installations of carpet. On Sept. 10, at homedepot.com, the company was offering “Free basic installation on all carpet collections on four or more rooms in participating markets. Valid through Sept. 25. In store only.”

At the same time, Lowes was promoting “Free Basic Stainmaster Carpet Installation.”

There is small print on these attractive offers that John Carr, owner of Buy Low Flooring Warehouse, in Queensbury, N.Y., thinks should be magnified. “Independent flooring stores should take the gloves off, to compete with the big box retailers,” he said. “We spell out how the boxes make their sales. We will pay for estimates from local home centers for our customers so they can see what the actual cost is. We run three comparison bids in our ads — two big boxes and ours — and we are 24 percent to 38 percent lower for the same carpet and the same square footage.”

Buy Low Flooring Warehouse provides free estimates. “We like to do the measures because it also gives us a chance to see if there are other considerations. We offer a lot of education and better quality for their homes.”

Carr wins business by proving Buy Low Flooring keeps its promises. “A property management client told me the biggest difference was the pile of scrap after we installed carpet was a fourth of what the big boxes left behind,” he reported. “We are not wasting carpet that the customer paid for. We don’t nickel and dime our customers for things like tack strip and walking up a flight of stairs. I believe we need to be blunt about the differences.”

For O’Krent’s Abbey Flooring Center, San Antonio, Texas, it’s usually not a competition, according to Sam O’Krent, company president. “Even though the Big Boxes are competitors, we don’t run into them that often. It could be that they attract the bargain shopper looking for a great price, whereas we attract the value shopper looking for great service,” O’Krent said. If a consumer is shopping both big boxes and O’Krent’s, “We drive home that we are local. That we are owned and operated in San Antonio. Any questions or issues are dealt with locally. We’re members of our community.”

Jerry Butler at Fred’s CarpetsPlus Colortile, with two locations in Torrance, Calif., said, “We have co-existed with the big boxes for a long time. They are going to be there and take a certain percentage of sales. There has been some shrinkage of specialty flooring retailers because of the recession, which may account for home centers seeming to be getting more floor sales, but since mid-2012 we have been coming back from the recession and have been positive for more than a year.”

Butler is confident Fred’s can win the sale. “All we want is a chance to show the consumer what we are about. Once a consumer comes into our stores, we will win them over with knowledge, quality and service.”

While shoppers at Fred’s rarely bring up the installation offers advertised by big boxes, “There are some naïve consumers who believe the offers and they (the big boxes) will sell them, but most people understand that there is no free lunch. We are our own competition and try to always do the best job possible.”